Paul - 4 stars out of 10

Paul - 4 stars out of 10

“Paul” started with so much potential... and did not get much farther than that.  While it cleverly pays homage to many of the great alien movies (the “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” music, giving advice to Steven Spielberg on the phone), it fails to establish itself as an alien movie in its own rite.  In fact, each f-word diminished my desire to continue watching.  I love Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz,” but this movie sacrificed smart humor for crude language.  Just because the alien uses the f-word over and over again, he does not become more likeable.  Outside of the unnecessary language, Seth Rogan was a great pick for the voice of Paul.  I also enjoyed Jason Bateman in this small role (particularly because his character name is Lorenzo Zoil, hilarious).  The story is actually rather clever but again, so much unnecessary language and strong atheistic themes.  The CGI is darn impressive as Paul interacts with all of the characters on screen and I love the seemingly endless barrage of sci-fi references (Sigourney Weaver even makes an appearance!), but this film simply is not worth enduring the constant flow of profanity.